Promise of Blood Review

So you like fantasy, but you don’t think it has enough guns. Well then, I suggest you take a look at Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan. It is the start of his debut trilogy the Powder Mage Trilogy and it’s full of muskets, mages and fantastical beasts. A good start for any author. 

 

The book begins with a coup that overthrows the king, the people are poor and starving and he neither seems to care or notice. We immediately see a break here from the traditional epic fantasy of a young man going on a journey and to find his true destiny. The protagonists in this book have all seen combat previously, and only one of them is a young man, the other two are older and more experienced. This definitely makes a pleasant change from seeing some characters bumbling their way through the first parts of their stories only to miraculously scrape through fights with sheer luck. All of the characters that McClellan follows by no means breeze through their encounters but their previous experience means that we are thrown into a story that immediately has high stakes. This does mean that there is a fair amount of backstory to get through but there’s never any feeling of info-dumps and McClellan feeds you enough information to keep you tantalised.

Even with the high stakes that you’re thrown into at the start of the book McClellan still manages to keep the story from spiralling out of control and uses it to keep the pace fast and keep you stuck into the pages. The stakes for the story are consistently ramped up and it feels like if he wanted to McClellan could make the story from Promise of Blood into its own trilogy (this is how I felt when I read Game of Thrones and take your pick from any of the Malazan series). After finishing the crescendo for the piece you are left wondering where McClellan could possibly take the story to give it even more drama and tension but I am confident that he can and will do exactly that.

The characters themselves are well fleshed out, each with their own wants, needs, drives and pitfalls. The only character I would say who falls short of the rest of them was minor and he wasn’t explored fully, so I am curious to see where that character goes as he promises to get more time in the spotlight in the next book. McClellan presents us with a range of characters and we follow an inspector, the leader of the coup and a military captain.

Magic inside Promise of Blood is quite varied as McClellan shows us several kinds of magic present inside his world, ranging from traditional magic to those who have highly developed talents (whether or not they’re useful talents!).  But McClellan uses them all in interesting ways and shows us how they interact and socialise together. I won’t go too much into it here but suffice to say it’s got an interesting system with a great deal of potential that becomes clear as the book goes on.

McClellan presents us with some interesting themes and it is a shame that he doesn’t explore them further. But I wonder whether this was due to constraints put on the book by the plot rather than McClellen being reticent about exploring them fully. What sticks out from this in my mind is the introduction of being ‘powder blind’; a term for men and women who use gunpowder to power their supernatural abilities but then get dependant upon gunpowder. The adverse effects of being ‘powder blind’ are hinted at numerous times within the book but I don’t feel as though McClellan developed this as much as he could have. But that is sometimes the price we pay in reading a series we know will be a trilogy. I strongly suspect that this theme will be dealt with more thoroughly in the latter books of the series.

You don’t have to look very hard to see influences of other works from the genre at play in McClellan’s. But for all those elements that you might feel have been done before, McClellan presents them very well and gives us more than enough original ideas to really bring his book together. In some ways this eases us into his world as we see features that we can recognise and use those to balance ourselves as we find our way around the book.

In short the book is well written, the characters are well fleshed out and the story explodes from the start and grows like a rolling snowball as you go on. The setting and feel of the book are very consistent and although the setting isn’t the biggest, but it has plenty of room for expansion, if you couple this with the story it’s definitely big enough to rank itself comfortably among any other epic fantasy. Although there are clearly some elements which McClellan has taken from traditional fantasy, there are many others which he has created and run with that set him apart. This means that if you read Promise of Blood you will find yourself reading an exciting and interesting book that breaks away from traditional fantasy whilst still brings back elements from the genre that we know and love. I would definitely recommend giving this book a read as it’s an interesting break from normal fantasy fare,  and McClellan writes an intriguing and exciting story.

Well, I hope that you’ve found that useful! It was definitely a book I enjoyed so I hope that I’ve convinced you to enjoy it too!

That’s it for this blog post so I shall see you next time!

Good hunting wordsmiths!

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How To Insult People Like An Eighteenth Century Ruffian

Hello once again dear readers!

What have I got in store for you today I hear you cry! Why, insults of course! I should probably elaborate on that point. This post is going to show you a couple of ways to make your insults authentic but still have some punch behind them. So as a bit of a warning this post has some language that’s a bit colourful.

One of the things that I think can be difficult for writers of science fiction, fantasy or anyone writing a setting that’s not the real world is the inclusion of the little details that really bring the setting to life. It’s things like cuss words, oaths muttered under your breath, or sayings uttered in confusion. These things are by no means mandatory, but they can really change your setting and characters from good to excellent.

Francis Grose, the man himself.

So I thought it would be a nice idea to take a look at some authentic slang and insults from way back when; specifically from around the 1800s. The book I’m going to be referring to is (the title as it was on the first edition that I found) Captain Francis Grose’s Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue: The Scoundrel’s Dictionary. It is essentially a dictionary of phrases, words and nicknames that were used by ‘thieves, house-breakers, street robbers and pickpockets about town’. You can find varying editions that have dates ranging from the late 1700s to the early 1800s and it’s definitely worth a look to really see how these slang terms have changed and which ones have stuck with us.

So I’ve written down a list of 15 definitions that are amongst my favourites, but this is by no means all that the dictionary has to offer. I always find it interesting, amusing or downright strange (and not always in equal measures) to give the dictionary a quick peruse. For some of the examples I’ve written a quick piece to show how you might like to use it, or at least how I might use them. So take a look at these and see if you would like to use them or even take them as inspiration for grumbles, nicknames or even a way to give one of your characters a quirky turn of phrase:

ARSY YARSEY

To fall arsy varsey, i.e. head over heels.

BABES IN THE WOOD

Criminals in the stocks, or pillory.

Earl chuckled darkly as he played with the rotten fruits in his hands, ready to throw them at the criminals in the stocks. He nudged the man standing next to him and said, “They’re strung up like babes in the wood.”

BAG OF NAILS

He squints like a bag of nails; i. e. his eyes are directed as many ways as the points of a bag of nails.

BARKING IRONS 

Pistols, from their explosion resembling the bow-wow or barking of a dog.

FUSTY LUGGS 

A beastly, sluttish woman.

HENPECKED 

A husband governed by his wife, is said to be henpecked.

MOON-EYED HEN 

A squinting wench.

    The plate whistled past Gerald’s ear and he ducked back behind the door frame. He heard his wife scream in frustration and rage. With a laugh that was equal parts relief and mockery he shouted around the corner. “You’ll never hit me, you moon-eyed hen!”

NICK NINNY 

 A simpleton.

PAD

  The highway, or a robber thereon; also a bed. Footpads; foot robbers. To go out upon the pad; to go out  in order to commit a robbery.

PAD BORROWERS 

 Horse stealers.

PANNY

A house. To do a panny: to rob a house.

PISS MAKER

A great drinker, one much given to liquor.

    The constable wrinkled his nose and frowned as the man stumbled passed him. With a shake of his head he made to follow the man and guide him gently away from the canal he was dangerously close to. “Typical,” he muttered to himself. “I always get the piss makers, never anything interesting.”

ROYSTER 

A rude boisterous fellow; also a hound that opens on a false scent.

SHERIFF'S BRACELETS 

 Handcuffs.

THREE-PENNY UPRIGHT

 A retailer of love, who, for the sum mentioned, dispenses her favours standing against a wall.

So there you have it, a few things to mix up your insults and give your writing a bit of authentic spice! There’s a whole host of other terms that you can find in the Classical Dictionary and I’ll probably end up showing you some more of my favourites later! I love to flick through it and get a chuckle on every page, so I’ll want to share that joy.

I should also give a quick warning if you do end up using some of these phrases. Do take a couple of minutes to do a quick bit of research on the your chosen phrase. Some of the phrases have stuck and evolved so just in case it’s a phrase you’re not familiar with it would be best to do a quick internet search. For example, ‘a story about a cock and a bull’ is now better known by ‘a cock and bull story’. It’s usually only a small change, sometimes only a slightly different spelling, but it can be those kinds of small details that make a reader trip up as they’re reading. 

For the prospect of further research into the wonderfully colourful topic, Francis Grose also penned another book along the same lines called: A Provincial Glossary; With a Collection of Local Proverbs, and Popular Superstitions. So there's plenty of words and phrases from the eighteenth century that you won't be able to find in a dictionary!

That about wraps it up for another post! I hope that you’ve enjoyed this post (I know I certainly did) and that it helps you to create a really authentic world.

So until next wordsmiths, good hunting!

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Review: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

I will admit that I wasn’t the biggest fan of Daughter of Smoke and Bone the first title in this particular trilogy (also named Daughter of Smoke and Bone). It was a thoroughly interesting setting and the characters were vibrant, but the romantic element of the book (for me) began to overwhelm the rest of the book, and although the rest of the book caught up, it was enough to taint my experience.

So it was with a little trepidation that I started Days of Blood and Starlight, worried that the story would become even more thoroughly engrossed within a romantic shell. But that was not the case, the romantic elements carried through from the first book but they were somewhat muted and definitely played a smaller part compared to the main storyline.

I would like to point out that I think this is very much a personal preference on my part. I’ve never been a huge fan of stories that focus on romance as the main plot. It’s just not my cup of tea. So if that’s something that you do enjoy, do add in an extra dimension for this review, because even though it’s not my thing, I can appreciate that Laini Taylor does write her romantic story very well.

And now let’s get into the review proper, I won’t give away too much of the story in case you go away and want to read the series, but I don’t think that I can completely avoid spoilers for the first book especially so if you want to read the first book (which I think you should): Spoilers ahoy! Come back later!

Right then, now it’s just us/now you’re all caught up let’s begin.

The story picks up from where the last book left off and we are thrown even deeper into the magical world populated by chimaera and angels. Taylor does a wonderful job of really building that world up, bringing it to life and making us feel like we’re a part of it. The characters, old and new, take us to new places so we really begin to explore both sides of the world adding depth and overtures that begin to sound a bit like epic fantasy to the storyline.

The war is largely over and we see the angelic forces turn their gazes elsewhere, teasing glimpses of the rest of the world that Taylor has created and we also begin to see the lands and people of the chimaera as well. Taylor takes us from small villages on the chimaeran (is that a word? We'll pretend it is) plains to the towering stronghold of the angelic forces, all the while fleshing out the story and inhabiting the world with powerful characters. This adds an excellent measure of depth to the world that Taylor has created and with the desolate ending of the first book hanging over the fantastical world of Eretz we see it with more depth and more visceral vibrancy.  

Taylor’s writing is generally very good, bringing the story to the readers whilst maintaining a balance between clarity and descriptive prose that can bog some writers down. I did find myself tripping up on a few sentences, forcing me to read them several times before I understood what Taylor was trying to convey, but these were generally few and the further the book progressed the less this happened. There were also a couple of instances where it seemed that Taylor had found a particular phrase that she found rather fetching and in a short number of pages that particular phrase, or variations of it, appeared quite a lot. I wasn’t completely sure if this was an intentional move to show the characters recurring thought process rather than Taylor obsessively putting in certain phrases.

With that said her writing was good and there were many more moments where the writing really drags you into the characters’ fears, hopes and elation. The pacing of the story was good and I never felt like I was just waiting for the next thing to happen and Taylor keeps the tension within her story without overusing it and making tension feel like the default state with no sense of danger.

Taylor clearly enjoys her comic relief, and whilst she does need some parts of her book which are at least not as scattered with tragedy as the rest of her book I think that it could perhaps be better delivered if the comic relief was not just two characters and their interactions. This sometimes left a queer taste as these characters acted as the balancing act for the darker and more tragic elements almost regardless of the proximity of those elements. I understand the need to not constantly batter your readers with depressing storylines, but I felt as though this need for relief sometimes came at the cost of realistic reactions. Even the most lighthearted of people puts on a serious face now and again. But with that said, the comic scenes were heartfelt and well done, if not slightly odd in their timing, and you really feel like Taylor is putting something of herself down on the page during these scenes.

Overall I did thoroughly enjoy Days of Blood and Starlight it was a well written, interesting story with bright vivid characters. It is a most excellent sequel to Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Taylor does an exquisite job of building on the world she has created and really giving us a much deeper view of it, and I would definitely like to see more. Romantically this book is more muted than the first, with the betrayal felt at the end of the first book hanging heavy over the story. But Taylor expertly weaves this into her work and really pulls at your heartstrings with this follow up to Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

I would certainly recommend this book, if you are looking for something with an epic feel to it without a confusing cast of characters that has a splash of comedy without compromising the story or theme of the book then this would definitely fit the bill. It’s a good read that makes you keep wanting to turn the pages and discover more and more about the world and the people that live in it, and the final instalment in the trilogy promises to be bigger than ever.

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5 Ways To Make You A Better Writer

The post today is all about different ways to improve your writing. Of course the best way is to write, write and then write some more! But here are a few ways to mix it up and try new and exciting methods at becoming the best writer you can be.

Writing VERY Short Stories

This challenge is based on the literary legend that Ernest Hemmingway was challenged to write a story using only six words. Hemmingway did so with the story:

“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

Point: Hemmingway. With only six words Hemmingway creates a powerful story but one that is made primarily by the reader with what they project onto the story. Hemmingway’s six word story is all about implication and reading between the lines (not that there’s much to read between).

So why not try writing your own six word story? Or ten or one hundred word story. As an exercise trying to write a story in a very small number of words will hone your ability to only put what is necessary into the prose. This way, you can avoid any writing that’s just fluff or perhaps writing that isn’t necessary to the storyline or character building.

So if you write a very short story every now and again it will help you become more concise in your writing, which will mean your readers are kept enthralled and pulled along by your prose. A win in any writers book (no pun intended)!

Describing Characters Without Naming Them

If we take a quick look at this video we can see how a three dimensional character can really make them stick out in your readers minds. (Side note: I’d recommend giving the full review a watch, he really takes apart the story and you can learn a lot of how NOT to do it, but a warning he does have some offensive language and the character he portrays might not be for everyone)

So you should ask yourself the same question of your own characters. Try and describe them to someone (either literally or just as an exercise, your choice!) without describing their features or what they do throughout the story. Just describe their personalities, and be sure to do this for your heroes and your villains.

How did you do? If you find yourself struggling then it might be worth taking some time to think about who your characters really are and what drives them. This is to make sure that you’re not just using characters to get the plot from A to B or that you just have characters act certain ways because that’s just what good/bad guys do.

If you’re not sure how you might go about this, take a look at the SMART Snowflakes post and look at the character steps and sheet to fill in your characters drives and motivation as well as the lessons learned on the journey.

Try Something New

Some people say that life begins at the end of your comfort zone. So why not try it with your writing? Write something a bit different to your usual scribblings. If you usually write in the sci-fi genre then why not try a mystery or adventure story. What if your thing is writing hardboiled noir fiction? Well then you could write a children’s story about owls flying for the first time.

The point is to get you doing something different, maybe you’ll like it, maybe you won’t and you’ll return to your old genre with open arms. But it will hopefully get you approaching things from a new angle. You  might even find you’re quite good at the new genre!

By getting used to thinking about plot, characters and writing in a different way to usual you will find that you can more easily overcome writer’s block. And in case you feel like you might be stuck in a rut with your writing, hopefully writing something a bit different will spice up your scribbles and replenish your love of the word!

Throw It All Away

Every so often, you should sit down and not worry about how your writing turns out. “What?!” I hear you cry. But hear me out! Sit down for an hour and just write whatever comes to mind, it doesn’t have to be good it doesn’t even have to make sense. But don’t worry about any of that, at the end of the hour you’re just going to throw it away.

This exercise is just to get you used to throwing out words and trying to make sure you don’t worry too much about the quality of your writing. At least for the first draft. So that you can just write to your heart’s content and hopefully get all of your ideas out on the page so you can edit and streamline them later. I’ve had problems in the past of knowing where I want my story to go. I know what the characters are doing and where I want them to get to, but I just can’t seem to move past those first few sentences. I’ll change this word, then that word in an attempt to make it be as good as possible the first time I finish it.

So that’s what this exercise is all about; getting you past that stage. That’s what first drafts are for, being your complete story, but also being awful. It’s a clunky, craggy chunk of marble that you need to chip away at with your literary chisel to get to the perfectly sculpted piece within.

For this exercise your writing doesn’t need to be good, it doesn’t need to be insightful, it doesn’t even need to make sense. Think about it as though you’re idly strumming a guitar, just picking out random notes to see what sounds good and what feels right to play. You’re just writing random words and seeing what feels good to write.

Writing Poetry

This is similar to the first point. You might have that one story that you really want to get done, that character you just need to show the world, but wait a second. Writing poetry is all about the control and use of language. Every scratch on the page is agonized over and painstakingly placed, I’ve known some people to umm and err over taking out just a single comma for a few hours only to put it back in exactly the same place later on.

Writing poetry is all about the intricacies of the word, the feel of the sentences and the rhythm of the words. Let’s take iambic meter as an example.

Iambic meter dictates the rhythmic pattern of your writing; the rhythm of iambic meter must be soft and then hard and each pair of syllables like this is called an iamb.

Through the use of this meter emphasis is placed on certain syllables within the poetry as well as a rhythm you, as the writer, can make use of to give a more musical lilt to your poem or a thumping beat.

Perhaps the most widely used iambic meter is iambic pentameter, which simply means that you have five iambs within a single line. So a line of iambic pentameter would have emphases that look like this: da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM

I’ll do more posts on more specific aspects of poetry, delving into the different types, meters and forms. There will also be exercises that I’ll be posting up along with them, but for now I’ll leave you with a few examples of iambic pentameter to show you what I mean:

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. (Alfred Tennyson, "Ulysses")

A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse! (William Shakespeare, Richard III)

So you can see how the syllables stressed can really add some punch to your poetry and you can then bring this greater understanding of how words work to your other writing and make yourself even more spectacular!

That’s it for this post! So I hope you enjoyed it and if you have any questions, want to have some free critique or maybe you just want to say hi then feel free to email thetemperedpen@gmail.com or even just write something on our facebook page!

Until next time, fare well!

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